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Project management

Project management is an essential discipline that involves planning, organizing, and controlling resources to achieve specific goals and objectives. Whether you are managing a small or large-scale project, having a good understanding of project management is crucial for success.

Project management involves a series of steps that ensure the successful completion of a project. These steps include initiation, planning, execution, monitoring, and closure. Each step is essential to ensure that the project is completed on time, within budget, and to the required quality.

Agile and classical

Agile and classical project management are two different approaches to managing projects. Classical project management is a traditional approach that involves a structured and sequential process. It focuses on developing a detailed plan at the beginning of the project and then executing that plan. It is a linear approach that is best suited for projects that have well-defined goals and requirements.

Agile project management, on the other hand, is a flexible and iterative approach that focuses on delivering value to the customer in short cycles. It involves continuous feedback from the customer, and the project team adapts the project plan accordingly. Agile is best suited for projects where the requirements are unclear or may change during the project.

Most Important Skills for a Project Manager

A project manager is responsible for the successful completion of a project. To be successful, a project manager needs to have a range of skills that include:

• Leadership: A project manager needs to be a strong leader who can motivate and inspire the project team to achieve the project goals.
• Communication: Effective communication is essential for a project manager. They need to communicate with stakeholders, team members, and customers to ensure that everyone is on the same page.
• Time Management: A project manager needs to be able to manage their time effectively and ensure that the project is completed on time.
• Risk Management: A project manager needs to identify and manage risks that could impact the project. They need to have contingency plans in place to mitigate any potential risks.
• Budget Management: A project manager needs to be able to manage the project budget effectively. They need to track expenses and ensure that the project stays within budget.

How to become a Project Manager

Becoming a good project manager requires a combination of skills, knowledge, and experience. Here are some steps you can take to become a good project manager:

1. Develop your project management skills: You can take courses, read books and articles, and attend seminars to learn about project management concepts and methodologies. Some popular project management methodologies include Agile, Scrum, and Waterfall.
2. Gain experience: To become a good project manager, you need to have hands-on experience managing projects. You can start by volunteering to lead small projects or taking on project management responsibilities in your current job.
3. Learn to communicate effectively: Good communication is critical to project success. You need to be able to communicate clearly and concisely with stakeholders, team members, and other project participants.
4. Build a strong team: A good project manager needs to be able to build a strong and effective team. You need to be able to identify the skills and strengths of team members and assign tasks accordingly.
5. Be organized and detail-oriented: A good project manager needs to be organized and detail-oriented. You need to be able to create and manage project schedules, budgets, and timelines.
6. Be adaptable and flexible: Projects are dynamic and can change rapidly. A good project manager needs to be adaptable and flexible to respond to changing project requirements, timelines, and budgets.
7. Learn to manage risks: A good project manager needs to be able to identify and manage risks that may affect the success of the project. You need to be able to assess potential risks and develop contingency plans to mitigate them.
8. Be a good leader: A good project manager needs to be a good leader. You need to be able to motivate and inspire team members, resolve conflicts, and lead by example.
9. Continuous learning: Continuous learning is essential for becoming a good project manager. You need to stay up to date with the latest project management trends, technologies, and methodologies to improve your skills and knowledge.

Certifications

• Project Management Institute
• Prince 2
• IPMA

Which certificate is the best for you is ultimately up to your needs. For a brief comparison between the two most popular ones, click here.

What is the Core of Project Management

The core of project management is the effective and efficient management of resources, tasks, timelines, budgets, and stakeholders to successfully achieve the project’s objectives. This includes:

1. Defining the project scope, goals, and objectives: This involves clarifying the purpose and deliverables of the project, as well as identifying the key stakeholders.
2. Planning the project: This involves breaking down the project into smaller tasks, estimating the time and resources required for each task, creating a project schedule, and developing a budget.
3. Managing project resources: This includes allocating resources, managing risks, and ensuring that project tasks are being completed on time and within budget.
4. Leading and motivating project teams: This involves leading and motivating the project team to ensure that everyone is working towards the same goals and objectives.
5. Communicating with stakeholders: This includes regular communication with stakeholders to keep them informed of project progress, changes, and risks.
6. Monitoring and controlling the project: This involves monitoring project progress, identifying and resolving issues, and making necessary adjustments to the project plan as needed.

Scope versus Quality

You probably recognize this image. It is flying around the internet in various forms and what everybody agrees about is that each project has three items you can play with. Of course, if you pour in more more money things become easier, if you take more time, the pressure disappears and if you deliver less scope you can also meet the expectations.

What about quality? If you deliver less quality you can also finish on time? Quality is a part of the agreed scope. If I deliver a ship that sinks after the first 20 minutes because of poor quality the agreed scope was not delivered. If the engine of my car explodes after 1’000 kilometers because of inferior parts, the agreed scope was not delivered.

Quality is an important characteristic of the scope. If you can get away with delivering less quality that could mean you either have been gold-plating before (i.e. delivering much more and better that necessary), it could mean the customer is clueless and doesn’t really know what they need or you are immoral and delivering something that will only survive for the minimum required time.

Especially the latter we see these days more and more often. Remember the washing machine your grandmother had? It survived for 50 years with minimum maintenance. These days, you should be happy if it runs for 5 years, which accidentally is just slightly over the guarantee period. And it’s not just washing machines.

Questions to ask

Before taking on a new project, there are a few important questions to ask.

1. Can I deliver less?
2. Can I deliver late?
3. Can I use more money?

If the answer is no three times, they are looking for a project coordinator, not a project manager.

If there is a yes in there, it makes sense to start discussing the further specifics

1. What is the purpose of the project?
2. What are the specific goals and objectives of the project?
3. Who are the stakeholders involved in the project, and what are their expectations?
4. What are the risks associated with the project, and how can they be mitigated?
5. What are the resources required to complete the project, and are they available?
6. What is the timeline for the project, and is it realistic?
7. What are the potential costs associated with the project, and can they be managed within budget?
8. What is the expected outcome of the project, and how will it be measured?
9. What are the potential impacts of the project on the organization and its stakeholders?
10. What are the alternative options for achieving the same goals, and are they viable?

Depending on the answers your first choice should be the methodology you want to use

Methodologies

Waterfall

Waterfall is often called the “traditional” project management approach. In traditional approaches, projects are completed one stage at a time and in sequential order—like a waterfall would flow down a collection of rocks.

When to use

Waterfall is an approach often used in projects with strict constraints and expectations or very few anticipated changes to the project plan. The Waterfall approach can be effective for projects like building houses, where one stage must be completed before others can begin or where timelines, budgets, regulations, or other factors make it necessary for your project to have a predictable outcome.

Agile

Agile is a project management approach built on small, incremental steps. It’s designed to be able to pivot and incorporate changes smoothly, making it popular among projects where unknowns and new developments are expected.

Agile’s twelve principles are enshrined in the Agile Manifesto, which was written in 2001 by project managers in software development.

When to use: 

Agile is best used in projects in industries that expect a certain amount of volatility or in projects where you won’t be able to know every detail from the outset. Agile project management is very popular in software development, where constant changes occur. You might also use an Agile approach when you’re launching a new product and aren’t fully aware of where pain points might lie until closer to the end of the project.

Lean

Lean is an agile project management style with roots in the manufacturing industry (Toyota’s cars, to be exact). It aims to cut down on waste and increase efficiency. Key Lean principles include emphasizing value from the customer’s perspective and mapping out your entire project in the initial stages to see where to generate value and cut waste.

When to use:

Lean can be a useful project management approach to adopt when you’re looking to reduce costs, shorten timelines, and improve customer satisfaction. It’s best used for projects that anticipate some flexibility and change.

Scrum

Scrum is the most-used type of Agile methodology, with over 66 per cent of Agile adopters using Scrum. Scrum implements Agile principles through small teams, short development cycles, frequent communication, and designated roles to keep the project organized and on track.

When to use:

Scrum can be a powerful way to tackle projects that thrive on change and adaptation. Like Agile, it is often used for projects in industries anticipating frequent change or unknowns.

Kanban

Kanban, which means “signboard” in Japanese, is an agile method of visualizing the workflow of a project. In Kanban, the tasks of a project are represented as cards divided into columns on a physical or digital board. As progress is made on the tasks, the cards advance to the next column until they are completed. The Kanban method emphasizes a continuous workflow. 

When to use:

Kanban’s way of visually displaying tasks makes it well-suited for projects that have several tasks that need to be completed simultaneously. Kanban is often used in tandem with other methods, like Scrum or Lean.

Whatever kind of method you’ll follow, one of the most underestimated areas of project management is risk management. It is either not done at all, done at the start or only once every quarter because the project office asks for it.

Risk Management

Risk management is a crucial aspect of project management, as it involves identifying, assessing, and mitigating potential risks that could impact the project’s success. Effective risk management helps project managers to anticipate potential issues and take proactive steps to minimize their impact on the project. Risk management involves several steps, including risk identification, risk analysis, risk evaluation, risk treatment, and risk monitoring and control. During risk identification, project managers identify potential risks that could affect the project, including technical, financial, and organizational risks. Risk analysis involves evaluating the likelihood and impact of each identified risk. Project managers then assess the risks based on their severity and prioritize them for treatment. Risk treatment involves developing strategies to mitigate or avoid potential risks. Project managers must monitor and control risks throughout the project to ensure they are effectively managed. Effective risk management helps project managers minimise potential issues’ impact and keep the project on track towards successful completion.

Risk Matrix

A risk matrix is a commonly used tool for visualizing risks in a project. It is a matrix that maps the likelihood of a risk occurring against the impact it would have if it did occur. The possibility is typically plotted on the x-axis, and the impact is plotted on the y-axis. Each axis is divided into several levels, such as low, medium, and high. The intersection of each likelihood and impact level creates a box or cell in the matrix. These cells are then colour-coded to indicate the level of risk. For example, a low likelihood and low impact risk might be green, while a high likelihood and high impact risk might be red. This allows project managers to quickly assess which risks require the most attention and prioritize their risk management efforts accordingly.

To create a risk matrix, follow these steps:

1. Define the likelihood and impact levels: Determine how many levels of likelihood and impact you want to use. Three or five levels are commonly used for each, but this can vary based on the project’s complexity.
2. Define the risk levels: Determine how you want to categorize risks based on their likelihood and impact. This can also vary based on the project’s needs.
3. Create the matrix: Draw a grid with the likelihood levels on the x-axis and the impact levels on the y-axis. The resulting grid should contain a box or cell for each possible combination of likelihood and impact levels.
4. Colour-code the cells: Assign a colour to each risk level based on your risk categorization scheme.
5. Identify and assess risks: Identify potential risks to the project and assess their likelihood and impact. Plot each risk on the matrix based on its likelihood and impact levels.
6. Prioritize risks: Use the risk matrix to prioritize which risks require the most attention and focus your risk management efforts accordingly.

A sample risk matrix can be found online and can be used as a reference.

More information about Risk Management in Project Management can be found here (to be added)

Conclusion

Project management involves planning, organizing, and controlling resources to achieve specific goals and objectives. It includes steps such as initiation, planning, execution, monitoring, and closure. Agile and classical project management are two different approaches to managing projects. To succeed, a project manager requires skills such as leadership, communication, time management, risk management, and budget management. Becoming a good project manager involves gaining experience, developing skills, communicating effectively, building a strong team, being organized and flexible, managing risks, being a good leader, and continuous learning. The core of project management is effectively managing resources, tasks, timelines, budgets, and stakeholders to achieve project objectives.